Top SA cyclist banned for three years

Cyclist Michael Dean Pepper has been banned for three years after failing a doping test last year, the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport said on Thursday.

Pepper tested positive for clenbuterol, a beta-2 agonist, and for the steroid testosterone at the Amashovashova cycle race in Durban in October last year, institute CEO Khalid Galant said in a statement.

“Because two banned substances were found in the athlete’s sample, and the fact that he admitted guilt, the tribunal panel felt they could increase the ban from two years to three years,” he said.

Pepper claimed that clenbuterol came from a sports supplement he knowingly took and that the testosterone had been externally applied.

Galant said a verification analysis for the external application of testosterone was done by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Germany and confirmed the Bloemfontein results.—Sapa